Packaging for handled tools



March 28, 1950- J. w. COCHRAN PACKAGING FOR HANDLED TOOLS 5 Sheet s-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 28, 1949 N w 7 iumummwm g 9o Z2 3 a: fi m C. ./F 1. M lib k: v w

March 28, 1950 w, CQCHRAN 2,501,811

PACKAGING FOR HANDLED TOOLS Filed Oct 28, 1949 s Shets-Sheet s J7 INVENTOR JOHN WCOCHRAN Patented Mar. 28, 1950 PACKAGING FOR HANDLER TQOLS Application October 28, 1949, Serial No. 124,195

8 Claims.

The invention relates to a new packaging for handled tools and, more particularly, for those handled tools in which the heads thereof are in generally right-angled relation to their respective handles.

For some time it has been a customary practice for manufacturers of the heads of tools such as mattocks, picks, sledges, mauls, axes, adzes, hoes and the like to procure and a-fiix handles thereto before shipment of such tools so handled in the channels of trade. Such handled tools are relatively heavy and awkward, particularly when shipped in lots of more than one for economy. Moreover, where the tool was of a character which had a sharp point or edge, protection had to be devised for those handling the tools in the course of shipment, storage and sale. Accordingly, a usual practice involved the crating of a predeter mined number of such handled. tools in a wooden crate frame or the binding together and packaging of the heads of such handled tools. These shipping arrangements were not only expensive in the case of the use of wooden crate frames but left the handles of such tools exposed, directl or through a wrapping such as paper, to damage and to soiling in the course of their movement in trade, thereby impairing their salability and sometimes requiring the cleaning or reh-andling thereof. Further, packaging arrangements heretofore used were cumbersome, fragile or inadequate for properstorage. In the case particularly of shipments in which the handles of such tools were left exposed, warehouse and inventory stocking presented material difiiculty because of the inability of such shipments to be piled in orderly stacks. Instead, such shipments had to be accumulated in irregular piles decreasing the emcient use of storage space and increasing the likelihood of damage to the tools.

In the new package of this invention the foregoing .difilculties have been overcome by the use of tough fibrous enclosures of regular geometric shape to form an inexpensive and unitary package completely enclosing a predetermined number of such handled tools in relatively immovable relationship to one another and to said package. Other objects and advantages of this invention will appear from the following description and from the drawings, which are illustrative only, in which Figure 1 is a lay-out view of a corrugated paper board blank for an upper enclosure in a preferred form of a new package made in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective View of the blank of Figure 1 in assembled form ready for application in the packaging of a predetermined number of handled tools;

Figure 3 is a lay-out view of a corrugated paper board blank for a lower enclosure in a preferred form of a new package made in accordance with this invention;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the blank of Figure 3 in assembled form ready for application in the packaging of said predetermined number of handled tools;

Figure 5 is a view in perspective of a preferred form of the package of this invention showing the upper and lower rectangular enclosure compo nents thereof as applied to T-shaped handled tools;

Figure 6 is a sectional view in elevation taken substantially along line VIVI of Figure 5';

Figure l is a partial view in cross section taken along line VII-VII of Figure 6;

Figure 8 :is a perspective View illustrating the stackabality cf the packages of Figure 5;

Figure 9 is a view in perspective of a modified form of a package of this invention showing the upper and lower rectangular enclosure components thereof as applied to L-shaped handled tools;

Figure 10 is a sectional view in elevation taken substantially along line X-X of Figure 9; and

Figure 11 is a partial view in cross section taken along line XL-XI of Figure v10.

Referring to Figures 1 to 8 of the drawings, a corrugated paper board blank iii is provided of sufficient toughness and strength to protect the handled tools to be enclosed therein. Blank 50 has regular geometric outline thereby aiiording economy in the procurement thereof and is of predetermined dimensions to accommodate a predetermined number of the particular type and kind of handled tools to be enclosed thereby. Blank it comprises end panels 1! and side panels l2 suitably scored along the predetermined lines it. Conventional flaps M extending from the upper edges E5 of blank is are provided for the closure of the top of blank it when assembled. End flaps it are provided at the bottom of blank it? and extend from the bottom edges ll thereof. Side flaps it are also provided extending from the bottom edges ll of the sides l2.

When assembled into generally rectangular carton form, blank it becomes an upper enclosure lllA as illustrated in Figure 2. A fibrous adhesive strip to is used to make a binding longitudinal seam at the joint of the respectively outside end and side panels H and i2. Gummed paper tape 2D is used to hold flaps III in top closure position after the closure has been made. Such assembly of upper enclosure IDA and the cutting of the respective flaps with the necessary scoring where the flaps bend is a matter within the skill of the carton-marking art.

A blank 2| for a lower enclosure 2IA is provided as shown in Figure 3. Blank 2| comprises opposed end panels 22 and op osed side panels 23 suitably score-d at 24 therebetween. Suitable closure flaps 25 extend from the bottom edges 26 of the aforesaid respective panels 22 and 23. The flaps 25, as are the flaps in blank ID, are separated from their respective adjoining flap or flaps but are integral with the respective panels from which they extend beginning along the scored edge in question. Thus, the bottom edges 25 are formed by appropriate scoring to permit the four flaps 25 to be respectively folded when assembled.

End flaps 21 extend from the top edges 28 at the top of the respective end panels 22 in blank 2|. Further, central flaps 29 and side flaps 30 extend from the top edges 28 of the respective side panels 23 in blank 2!. The central flaps 29 are positioned between the respective pair of side flaps 30 extending from the respective side panel 23. The edges 28 are formed by scoring in the usual manner so that the flaps are integral with the respective panels but severed from adjoining flaps along the adjoining edges.

An extension flap 3| is provided at one end of the panel series in blank 2| so that it can be folded in and stapled by staples 32 as shown in Figure 4 in the assembly of lower enclosure 2|A. Blank 2| may also have a completely regular rectangular form in the event that the vertical seam for the panels in lower enclosure 2|A is made by means of an adhesive tape instead of by staples 32.

Lower enclosure 2IA is assembled in a conventional manner with flaps 25 forming a closure for the bottom thereof. If desired, contiguous surfaces of the respective flaps 2-5 when folded may be coated with adhesive to keep the bottom of lower enclosure 2 IA closed as shown in Figure 4. The assembling of blank 2! into enclosure MA is again a matter within the skill of the cartonmaking art. Blank 2| is also of predetermined dimensions to accommodate the heads of a predetermined plurality of handled tools. Moreover, the predetermined dimensions of blank 2| are correlated with the predetermined dimensions of its companion blank ID. For different sizes of heads and of handles, there will be corresponding variation in the dimensions of blank 2| or blank ID or both of them as the case may be. Because of this correlation, the width of the respective flaps ID and I8 of blank ID extending normal to the respective bottom edges I'I approximate the height of the respective panels 22 and 23 of lower enclosure 2 IA.

Assuming that the new packagin illustrated in the drawings is dimensioned to accommodate a shipment of four double face handled sledges 33 of a size corresponding to the proportions of enclosures IDA and 2|A, such sledges are placed side by side with the tops of the heads down into lower enclosure ZIA after central flaps 29 have been folded downwardly and inwardly along the sides of side panels 23. In plan and elevation, the dimensions of the heads 34 of sledges 33 are such that they fill lower enclosure 2IA from the bottom closure thereof generally to the upper edges 28. The length of the central flaps 29 parill) - knocking against one another.

allel to their respective edges 28 to which attached and the widths of end flaps 21 normal to their respective edges 28 to which attached are chosen so that when the heads 34 are packed in lower enclosure 2| A the respective handles 35 of the sledges are cleared when the respective side and end flaps 21 and 30 of lower enclosure ZIA are folded.

In completin the packing of sledges 33, after the heads 34 are placed in lower enclosure 2IA, side flaps 38 may be folded inwardly across the undersid 36 of the respectively adjacent heads 34. Thereupon, upper enclosure IDA may be fitted over handles 35 with the opening at the bottom thereof moved relative to the opening at the top of enclosure 2IA until side flaps I8 move downwardly into enclosure ZIA next to the respective central flaps 2'9 and between such respective central flaps 29 and the respective outsides of the adjoining heads 34, as shown in Figure 6. End flaps IS in such position rest across the underside 36 of the heads 34, above side flaps 3D.

The new packaging completely enclosing the handled sledges 33, as shown in Figure 5, is completed by the folding of end flaps 21 over end flaps I6 and strapping lower enclosure ZIA on each side of enclosure IDA. This strapping may comprise the use of steel baling straps 31 applied by a usual baling tape machine. In such strappin pulling strap 31 tight and looking it in place by means of a conventional pressed lock 38 binds enclosures IDA and 2| A together and holds both of them completely and securely closed by virtue of the pressure of straps 31' during shipment and storage. In that way, when the sledges are to be sold and are removed from package 39 comprising component enclosures IDA and 2IA, the merchandise is in its original, undamaged and clean factory condition.

The straps 3'! encircle lower enclosure 2|A adjacent and inwardly from the respective ends thereof parallel to the planes of end panels II of upper enclosure IDA. By so doing, end flaps I6 are tightly frictionally locked against end flaps 21 of lower enclosure 2IA and the heads 34 of sledges 33. Since the overwhelming proportion of the weight of the packag is in heads 34, the composite package 39 requires no further strappin around upper enclosure IDA. Moreover, with sledges, such as sledges 33, no spacers are required between handles 35 because the tight fit between the respective sides of heads 34 maintains handles 35 in parallel relation without The regular and rectangular character of the component enclosures of package 39 enable it to be stacked in orderly stacks during storage, as illustrated in Figure 8, thereby greatly improving the efficiency of such storage and the handling thereof in the course of the movement of such packaged shipments in trade.

The modification shown in Figures 9 to 11 is particularly applicable to- L-shaped handled tools. In general, the component parts of the modified package bear the same reference numerals, primed however, as the corresponding parts of the preferred form of package shown in Figures 1 to 8, which corresponding parts are similar in purpose and construction. Thus, upper rectangular enclosure IDA is substantially identical to upper enclosure IDA with. such changes as are appropriate for changes in the dimensions of the handles and number of L-shaped tools to be accommodated in the modified package. Moreover,

one of the straps d l' encircles lower enclosure 21A parallel to the plane of the bottom clos-ure thereof to bind end flap 4% towards the rear of the package as shown in Figure -9 tightly between the adjacent end flap -2l which has been folded directly downwardly in enclosure 26A and the backs of the L-shaped handled too-ls being packaged, which are adzes in the illustrative case of Figures 9 to 11. Further, in enclosure ZiA there are no side flaps between central flaps 29 and the vertically downwardly turned end flap 27'. Since the configuration of the heads 3d of the adzes being packaged is irregular, a rectangular block of wood 56 extending from side to side of lower enclosure A ma be placed across the undersides of heads lid" to insure that the steel baling strap 3? parallel to the planes of the vertical end faces of enclosure 21A effectively binds the front end flap It of enclosure MA as shown in Figure 10. If the adzes 33' being packaged are also irregular across the tops of the head 3% from side to side thereof, a spacing cap 5! of paper-board or other suitable material be placed over the ends of the handles 35 before enclosure WA is assembled with enclosure 25A for strapping and completion of the modified package. In all other respects, the two packaging arrangements disclosed'are substantially identical.

It is understood that various modifications in the materials used, in the methods of holding together the respective enclosures, in the proportions of the respective packages and in other details may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A composite package for handled tools each having a head in generally right-angled relation to its handle, comprising, a relatively stiff fibrous folded lower enclosure adapted to fit over the of at least one of such handled tools, end flaps positioned along the opposed upper edges of the ends of said lower enclosure, said end flaps adapted to be folded over the underside of said head and to extend generally to the proximate surface of said handle, a relatively stiff fibrous folded upper enclosure adapted to fit over the handle attached to said head, end flaps positioned along the opposed bottom edges of the ends of said upper enclosure, and adapted to be folded over the underside of said head adjacent said first-mentioned end flaps respectively, and means for binding together said respective over lapped end. flaps.

2. A composite package for handled tools, each having a head in generally right-angled relation to its handle, c top-rising, a relatively stiff fibrous folded lower enclosure adapted to fit over the head of at least one of said handled tools, end flaps positioned along the opposed upper edges of the ends of said lower enclosure, one of said end flaps adapted to be folded over the underside of said head and to extend generally to the pro-Ximate surface of said handle, the other of said end flaps adapted to be folded downwardly along the rearmost end of said lower enclosure, a relativel stiff fibrous folded upper enclosure adapted to fit over the handle attached to said head, end flaps positioned along the opposed bottom edges of the ends of said upper enclosure, one of said end flaps adapted to be folded over the underside of said head adjacent said first-mentioned end flap, the other of said end flaps of said upper enclosure being adapted to be positioned adiacent the second mentioned of said end flaps of said lower enclosure, and means for binding together said respective overlapped end flaps.

3. A composite package for handled tools each having a head of generally T- haped relation to its handle, comprising, a generally rectangular lower paperboard carton of a predetermined size adapted to fit relatively tightly over the heads of a predetermined plurality of such handled tools, said heads being arranged side-by-side between the sides of said car-ton, end flaps positioned along the opposed upper edges of the ends of said lower-carton, said end flaps being adapted to be folded over the underside of said heads, said end fiaps further when so folded having a gap between the opposing edges thereof generally equal to the dimension of said handles rising upwardly therebet-ween, a generally rectangular upper paperboard carton of a predetermined size adapted to fit over the handles of said predetermined plurality of handled tools, end flaps positioned along the opposed bottom edges of the ends of said upper carton, said last-rnentioned end fiaps having a width approximating the width of said first-mentioned end flaps, said respective end flaps of said respective cartons being adapted to be placed interleaved relation over the underside of said heads, and a steel strap encircling said lower carton generally parallel to the ends of said upper carton and on each side thereof, whereby said interleaved end flaps are pressed together against the underside of said heads to bind said cartons together and make a complete unitary stackable enclosure for said handled tools.

4. A composite package for handled tools, each having a head of generally L-shape in relation to its handle, comprising, a generally rectangular lower corrugated paper-board carton of a predetermined size adapted to fit over the heads of a predetermined plurality of such handled tools,

said heads being arranged side-by-side between the sides of said carton, end flaps positioned along the opposed upper edges of the ends of said lower carton, one of said end flaps being adapted to be folded over the underside of said heads, the other of said end flaps being adapted to be folded vertically downwardly inside the :end of said lower carton connected thereto, a generally rectangular upper corrugated paperboard carton of a predetermined size adapted to fit over the handles of said predetermined plurality of handled tools, end flaps positioned along the opposed bottom edges of the ends of said upper carton, said last-mentioned end flaps having a width approximating the width respectively of said first-mentioned end flaps, said respective end flaps of said respective cartons being adapted to be placed in interleaved relation relative to the heads of said tools, a binding strap encircling said lower carton generally parallel to the plane of the front end of said upper carton and overlying said end flap of said upper carton folded over the undersides of said heads, and a second binding strap encircling said lower carton generally parallel to the bottom closure thereof and overlying the other of said end flaps of said upper carton, whereby said interleaved end flaps of said respective cartons are pressed together against said heads to bind said cartons together and make a complete unitary and stackable enclosure for said handled tools.

5. A composite package for handled tools each having a head in generally T-shaped relation to its handle, comprising, a stifi fibrous folded rectangular lower enclosure adapted to fit over the 1 head of at least one of such handled tools, end flaps positioned along the opposed upper edges of the ends of said lower enclosure, said end flaps adapted to be folded over the underside of said head and to extend generally to the proximate surface of said handle, side flaps positioned alon the upper edge of the sides of said lower enclosure, said side flaps being adapted to be folded over the underside of said head and beneath said end flaps, a stiff fibrous folded rectangular upper enclosure adapted to fit over the handle attached to said head, side and end flaps positioned along the bottom edges of said upper enclosure, said last-mentioned side flaps being adapted to extend downwardly respectively between the sides of said head and said lower enclosure respectively, said last-mentioned end flaps being adapted to be folded over the underside of said head above said first-mentioned side flaps and beneath said firstmentioned end flaps respectively, and a strap surrounding the exterior of said lower enclosure adjacent each end thereof to bind together said enclosures and their respective overlapped end flaps.

6. A composite package for handled tools each having a head in generally T-shaped relation to its handle, comprising, a stiff fibrous folded rectangular lower enclosure adapted to fit over the head of at least one of such handled tools, end fiaps positioned along the opposed upper edges of the ends of said lower enclosure, said end flaps adapted to be folded over the underside of said head and to extend generally to the proximate surface of said handle, center flaps positioned centrally along the upper edge of the sides of said lower enclosure, said center flaps adapted to be folded inwardly and downwardly along the sides of said lower enclosure, side flaps positioned along the upper edge of the sides of said lower enclosure on each side of said center flaps respective ly, said side flaps being adapted to be folded over the underside of said head and beneath said end flaps, a stiff fibrous folded rectangular upper enclosure adapted to fit over the handle attached to said head, side and end flaps positioned along the bottom edges of said upper enclosure, said lastmentioned side and end flaps having a width generally equal to the height of said lower enclosure,

said last-mentioned side flaps being adapted to extend downwardly respectively between the sides of said head and said center fiaps, said lastmentioned end flaps being adapted to be folded over the underside of said head above said firstmentioned side flaps and beneath said first-mentioned end flaps respectively, and a strap surrounding the exterior of said lower enclosure adjacent and parallel to each end thereof, said strap being adapted to bind together said enclosures and respective overlapped end flaps.

'7. A process of packagin handled tools each having a head in generally right-angled relation to its handle which comprises enclosing the head of at least one of said handled tools in head-down relation in a rectangular enclosure having flapped portions, enclosing the handle attached to said head by a second rectangular enclosure havin fiapped portions in a direction opposite to the direction of the relative enclosure of said head, interleaving said respective flapped portions of said respective enclosures adjacent said head, and binding together said interleaved portions, whereby said handled tools may be completely enclosed in a unitary package of generally rectangular stackable components.

8. A process of packaging handled tools each having a head in generally T-shaped relation to its handle which comprises placing an empty generally rectangular box over the tops of the heads of a predetermined plurality of said handled tools in side-by-side relation, said box being of predetermined dimensions to fit said heads and having closure flaps along the edges thereof around its opening, moving a second empty generally rectangular box having closure flaps over the handles attached to said heads until said lastmentioned closure flaps are adjacent the closure flaps of said first-mentioned box, overlapping the closure flaps of said respective boxes, and pressing said overlapped flaps into binding frictional engagement against the undersides of said heads to hold said respective boxes together and form a unitary stackable completely enclosed package for said predetermined plurality of handled tools.

JOHN l/V. COCHRAN.

No references cited. 

